T.J. Tedesco

T.J. Tedesco is a sales growth, business strategy, marketing and PR consultant operating at the intersection of clear vision, compelling content and effective outreach practices. For nearly two decades, T.J. has been an independent consultant and sales growth team leader. Previously, he sold commercial printing, graphic arts machinery and supplies, and finishing and bindery services.

T.J. helps North American companies with content development, Web and print design leadership, nurture marketing programs, sales coaching, sales team alignment and business strategy. Since 1996, T.J. has worked with more than 100 clients on retainer, 80 percent in the graphic arts industry.

T.J. is author of “Win Top-of-Mind Positioning,” “Playbook for Selling Success in the Graphic Arts Industry,” “Fire! How Marketing Got Hot,” “Direct Mail Pal” and four more books published by PIA.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve discussed the principles of how inbound marketing works. Hopefully, you understand how crucial an effective content distribution strategy is. Today, we’re going to see how well these principles sync up with what actual marketers want.

In a previous blog, we covered the first four elements of how inbound marketing/content distribution works: 1) content usage, 2) search engine optimization, 3) landing pages and 4) lead scoring. But there are three more. Let’s pick up right where we left off.

At the heart of every successful inbound marketing program is a well-conceived and executed content distribution system. The seven-step workflow process of a content distribution system is conceptually easy to understand, but getting the details right can be devilishly challenging.

In the mid- to late-2000s, an unimpressive looking skinny new kid crawled into town. His name: Inbound Marketing. Who’s afraid of anyone called Inbound? Times quickly change. Inbound Marketing has grown up and today is a force to be deployed.

When this former print, bindery and graphic arts machinery sales rep first hung a consulting shingle a couple of decades ago—in what surely must have been a libation-influenced moment—little did I know I was entering the profession of outbound marketing at its pinnacle.

As promised last week, I’m going to share the content marketing portion of a new consulting engagement with a Silicon Valley IT security client. This company is the proud owner of impressive technology and its team is smart enough to specifically target only three verticals. Luckily, it has stockpiled a large arsenal of great content, but only haphazardly deployed...until now.

Consider giving letter campaigns a role in your coordinated "prospect nurture program." Weave in the occasional letter to your outreach plans that include an intelligent mix of e-mail, telesales, direct mail and direct sales efforts. Recipients will appreciate the thoughtfulness of your marketing approach and will likely be more inclined to undertake your intended actions.

Last week, Google announced a seismic change to their search algorithm. Effective immediately, Google now counts the mobile-friendliness, or "responsiveness," of your site when determining where you fall in their search results. If your site isn’t mobile-friendly and your competitors’ are, you might unpleasantly find your company’s name further down the Google search list than before.

The advanced art of listening more and talking less helps sales reps hear and understand the prospect’s needs, allowing them to calmly start setting buying hooks. Print salespeople that do this well establish themselves as consultants who just might be able to craft a solution perfectly tailored to the unique needs of their prospect’s organization.

The reality is that you are only as good as the last job you shipped in. You need to continually prove yourself to your client. Back at the plant, your CSR is yearning for some recognition. The production team would like to see some humility. And the boss wants to remind you that part of your job is to generate new business.

For better or for worse, everything a sales rep does can be measured. The number of calls, appointments, quotes and, of course, sales, is tracked and noticed and becomes the answer to the ongoing and inevitable sales management question, "Is my rep doing the job?"